Facing up to the inevitable

I’ve been putting this off and putting it off, but I can’t procrastinate much longer.

It’s time to nuke my Windows installation and start over. Only in this case, I have to nuke two Windows setups.

One of them is my standard Windows XP Professional configuration, the other a Windows XP Media Center 2005 setup I installed for a series of columns on building your own Media Center PC. It’s now time to start testing the early beta version of Windows Vista, so some changes are required.

I want to keep MCE 2005 as my main OS, I think — it just simplifies the process of using a TV tuner card — and put Vista on my secondary hard drive. But as anyone whose reformatted and reinstalled an operating system knows, this is not a trivial event. The process takes at least a day, and actually continues over time as you tinker to get everything just right.

2. Download key drivers and security software. I’ll grab the video, audio, mouse, keyboard and printer drivers from the manufacturers’ respective Web sites and also store them on the network computer. In this case, I’ll have to hunt down drivers for both MCE and the beta version of Vista, if they’re available. My Intel motherboard has a network adapter that isn’t included in Windows XP, so I need to grab that as well. I keep it on a USB flash drive, since I won’t be able to access my other networked PCs until it’s installed. Finally, I use AVG Free antivirus and Microsoft Antispyware to protect myself online, both free programs. I download the latest versions of those as well.

3. Nuke the hard drive; install Windows. I boot from the Windows installation disk and use it to blow away the existing partition, create a new partition, then start installing.

4. Install Service Pack 2. Jay Lee may disagree with me, I but consider SP2 important enough that it’s the first thing I add after completing a Windows installation. I have it on a CD so I don’t have to connect to the Internet to get it.

5. Network, chipset, antivirus, antispyware, firewall. I install the network card driver, followed by the Intel chipset drivers. Then I install my pre-downloaded protective software from the USB drive and check the built-in Windows Firewall’s settings to make sure it’s turned on.

6. Connect to the Net and my network. Now that I’m set up for safe surfing, I connect to the Internet and my home network.

7. Download Windows patches. Although I have auto-updates turned on, I connect to the Windows Update site and grab the latest patches pro-actively. If you’re still using dialup — and if you are, you have my sympathies — you may want to delay this until you can conduct an overnight downloading session.

8. Install drivers. Next I add the video card, audio, mouse and keyboard drivers. (I don’t do the printer until the installation is stable, and I never use the disk that came with it, with all the unnecessary software that accompanies such devices. I use the latest, most basic driver set from the Web site.)

9. Restore data. I first work from the File and Settings Transfer Wizard. Whatever that has missed, I grab from my Windows Backup files.

10. Install progams. I reinstall software, and after each one, check the developers’ Web sites for respective updates.

11. Tweakfest. Finally, I tweak to my heart’s content. This process can actually take several days, as I use the computer. It usually takes at least a week before I have a new Windows installation working the way I like it. One must-have program for making Windows behave the way I think it should: TweakUI.

Believe it or not, I actually enjoy doing all this. And since I’m installing two operating systems, I get to do it twice! Oh boy!

Of course, if you used Linux you wouldn’t need to go through all this 😉 Again … and again … and again.

After having converted to Linux several years ago, I feel like I’m working with a well-oiled machine instead of some clunky system. Sort of like driving a Jaguar instead of a 15-year-old heap that belches smoke and needs oil every few miles.

I just did a reimage of my hard drive a week or so ago, and I’m happy with the results. And sometimes not saving a software key or license can be a good thing.

How? Well, I lost my key for Chillcam, so I ended up checking out all the major webcam capturing software products out there. Ended up with Active Webcam, which is far superior and a lot easier to use.

Same here. I run OS X, and have been on the same install that came with my G5 3 years ago. I just upgrade to Panther, Tiger, etc. No problems. Likewise, I ran Windows for years, and understand the degredation/slowdown that exists. I just do not see that with OS X. Does anyone else see slowdown with OS X?

Have you tried nLite (http://www.nliteos.com) which allows you to preconfigure an XP install with most things just the way you want?

I’ve found that it drastically reduces the amount of time it takes to configure the OS, install service packs, disable services, etc. I can do a clean, unattended install of Windows XP SP2 and patches in less than 1 hour.

“A user once called me to complain that her computer wouldn’t start. … it was easy to fix: She had plugged her computer into a power strip, and plugged the power strip into itself. … she argued with me, saying she had connected the power strip exactly like the one she used at home.”

:^D :^D :^D :^D :^D :^D :^D :^D

He says Vista won’t help with that type of support call, but it has lots of remote assistance goodies built in.

Now, isn’t that how we got into this mess to begin with and does it remind you of the woman in the story?